What are Musical Stereotypes - Miami University



What are Musical Stereotypes?

Group 2

Joshua Ahrns

Lee Casey

Lisa Colwill

Cory Gallagher

Portia Golloh

Dominique LeLewis

Ashley Sanders

EDP101B

In today’s society, stereotypes are not uncommon. With the amount of them running rampant in nearly everything we do in society, it might be a safe bet to say that stereotypes make up the norm. In the fifth edition of the text Psychology, Stephen Davis and Joseph Palladino define a stereotype as “a set of socially shared beliefs that we hold about members of a particular group” (p. 447). Stereotypes focus more on the group that something belongs to, rather than the individuals themselves. The list of stereotypes is a long one, with people making various categories for race, people living in a certain locale, what we where, and even things that we express an interest in. While thinking about stereotypes, our group came up with a question. Are there stereotypes in the music realm?

The easy answer to the question was yes. We were able to name a few genres that are well known for their stereotypical natures off the top of our heads. From there we established that we could explore the topic more in depth to discover how classifying music could classify how people feel about others that listen to the particular genre in question. We have each individually explored the concepts by means of scholarly texts, our own personal experiences, news articles and other sources in order to come together again with what we feel is the best feeling we could get right now.

Josh: Music exists in many forms and has become not only the essence of auditory curiosity but something that has manipulated and influenced people in a visual sense. These musical traits when combined drive stereotypes to exist, indifferent to society and its ways. Music affects what people like and how they look and act. As Levitin puts it in This Is Your Brain on Music, “Each musical genre has its own set of rules and its own form. The more we listen, the more those rules become instantiated in memory” (233). What Levitin is saying is that as we listen to certain music, our moods, actions, and appearance will develop certain characteristics or rules that pertain to a type of music.

Stereotypes are inescapable but necessary for people if they choose to use them as a learning experience about the world around them. I chose to discuss the stereotypes behind country music and rap/R&B because these two genres are most common in my daily life. For starters, many people view country music in certain ways because it has been burdened “with stereotypes of Hillbilly’s and maudlin ballads” (crystalinks). Personally, I have felt that most country songs just sound the same and follow a similar tune or melody, and this would be me stereotyping this particular genre. There is much more to country music however, in his song “Songs About Me” musician Adkins Trace states that “…but I've never been crazy 'bout that twang and trains and hillbilly thing [...] cause it's songs about me and who I am songs about loving and living and good hearted women and family and God yeah they're all just songs about me.”

On the opposite side of the spectrum lies the rap/R&b genre. This genre has been the center of controversy ever since its fluid beats and shocking lyrics hit the musical world. Many people often bring up that rap/R&B is misogynistic and that “misogyny in gangsta rap is the promotion, glamorization, support, humorization, justification, or normalization of oppressive ideas about women” (Adams, 940). This is many times true but I feel that if you can get past that, there is more to rap/R&B than misogyny. The creative, clever and witty lines that stream from hip hop/rap songs are what draw me towards it. For some songs once you get past the insensitivity or corruptness that may be involved (and many songs are not polluted with these), you can hear a message that may not be so bad. Under the “rough” stuff of rap hides originality and imagination that make people like me appreciate the brilliance behind the banter.

I will admit I haven’t given country music a chance mainly because my music interests are elsewhere. However, I think that once a person finds their musical interests that it is ingrained in their minds that if it’s not a certain genre than it’s not for them. If we take a step back and give certain songs a chance, then and only then will full musical appreciation be achieved.

Cory: In this day and age, there are many different types of music; classical, rock, hip hop, and country. There are many more, however these are just a few of the popular kinds. Different types of music influence each person differently. It even goes to the extent of the type of song a person is listening to, such as an up beat song or a sad and slow song. The popularity of music can also be influenced by the age of a person, for instance, an older person may be more likely to like to classical and jazz music, where as a teenager or young adult would most likely listen to rock or hip hop.

I feel that people who listen to country are generally from a southern area, a country background, or older adults. I feel that country is often music of dance and love. It is often that any line dancing or square dances are accompanied by country music. It has a touch of twang to it which often fits specific people’s personality. I personally like listening to some country because I feel that it is more calm and subtle as apposed to heavy metal or screaming music.

I think that rock and hip hop is commonly influenced and listened to by our younger generation. It is often upbeat music and consists of primarily male artists. These types of music can often be found being played in clubs, sporting events, and even department stores for young adults. This music is a music that sells to youngsters. I also think this music gives people a good and happy feeling. Most people get pumped up when hearing it and sometimes even bust out in a shout mimicking the words. I personally like some hip hop but I would say that I am more o f a person who is influenced by rock.

Another type of music that is popular that seems to target more of an older generation is classical music. I feel that this music often brings a person back to their childhood memories. I feel that they are often songs played when these people were younger, as apposed to the rap and hip hop songs played today. I think that this music is more for easy listening and relaxing rather than dancing and partying. It often puts you in a happy and pleasant mood. I feel that I can sometimes listen to a few of these songs; however they are not my song of choice.

All in all, I think music has a major influence on a person’s life. It often influences a person’s mood and behavior. Whether the music be rap or classical, upbeat or slow, happy or sad; it all has a meaning.

Dominique: Jazz/Blues: I think that jazz/blues music makes me think about historical because it has been around for so long. This kind of music is a much laid back kind of music and calm, soothing and relaxing kind of music. There are either no words, or very little words, but more so sound. You would probably listen to this kind of music while reading a book/magazine, or doing homework. This is the kind of music you tap your foot to.

Rock/Metal: I think that this kind of music is the kind of music that you would listen to if you were trying to get prepared for a sporting event. This kind of music is very loud, and has a lot of energy. People would probably dance around like rockstars.

Rap/Hip Hop: This kind of music is also the kind of music that you would listen to if you were getting prepared for a sporting event. This kind of music is very uplifting and has a lot of energy as well. This is the kind of music people would dance to in the club or a party.

Lisa: I associate classical music with the high class, intellectual part of society. After all, many highly regarded and great composers of all time, like Mozart and Beethoven, wrote classical music. Their status gives classical music a classy and sophisticated standing in the social order. It’s played at important occasions like weddings, graduations and formal events. Gentlemen clubs, art galleries, grand ballrooms, ladies in elegant ball gowns, champagne, and cultured conversation are all affiliated with classical music. “As stereotypes might suggest, those with the most education were also the main fans of opera, classical music, and jazz” (Holden). Listeners are likely to be highly educated and refined compared to the common entity. Moreover, they are likely to go see a play or opera, than catch sight of a tractor pull at a county fair.

Country music however, can be heard at a county fair. It’s usually upbeat and laid back. Music videos are shot in natural settings: old houses, country fields or various scenes of a hometown. The artists wear blue jeans, flannel shirts, cowboy hats and boots. They’re normally unshaven, tan and look dirty. I believe people from the south and rural areas are the most loyal country fans. The majority of the south listens to only country music. They wouldn’t even dream to listen to rap or R&B. Their music comes from the heart, and from my own personal experience, country music fans tend to be more caring and giving then others. Courtesy is key down south; traditional values and morals are present in their music. High school sweethearts, football games, love and work are common subject matter. They may talk slow and have a funny accent, but that doesn’t make them dense like the stereotype suggests.

Rock music has two different scenes. What first comes to mind is the sex, drugs and alcohol aspect of rock-and-roll. Big concerts with hundreds of fans lined around stage, ready to scream and shout the night away. The second scene is more relaxed: College students chilling in their dorm rooms listening to Jack Johnson and OAR.

Metal, another form of rock, has a different vibe. Metal listeners are seen as self-destructive. They wear baggy pants, black clothes, black nail polish, studded belts, chains, and spiky hair. I personally dislike metal music; it’s a dark and sinister style. “Teens who show a preference for heavy metal music tend to abuse substances and receive poor grades, have difficulties in school or a lack of commitment towards education, and show increased levels of delinquency” (Fried 4). They have a bad reputation and seem to get in trouble more often then others. They’re more likely to do drugs and make bad life decisions.

Rap listeners are sometimes classified as threats to society. “The news articles raise fears that rap fans will commit rape, murder, violence, and other crimes against society” (Fried 5). The artists are largely black males with troubled pasts. They’ve come from broken families, lived in dangerous neighborhoods, and have been surrounded by drugs. The lyrics to the songs reflect these troubled lives, and many fear they will influence listeners. It’s played at nightclubs and is mainly popular amongst teens and young adults. Parents find it repulsive and don’t like their young children listening to it.

Portia: Music stereotypes.

What is it and how does it play a role in our lives? Music stereotypes are basically the genres in music. There are so many categories that we come in contact with each day. In our daily lives, we listen to all kinds of songs ranging from country, classical, hip-pop, r&b, hard rock, gospel, and so on. As we hear some of these songs over and over again, we sometimes get attached to it when we like it or avoid listening to it for other reasons.

What makes one genre of music more pleasing to ears than the others? I strongly believe that this is generally affected by the way we choose to perceive sound and interpret the music we hear each day. I also believe that this is also affected by the kinds of songs we listen to, as we grow old. For instance a child who grows up from a family who listens to only classical music would grow to like it but that doesn’t mean that he or she will hate hip-pop. Because sometimes our perspectives due to lack of understanding causes us to misjudge the things that makes us curious about others who are very different from us. In the same way, a kid from a Christian home is more likely to listen to gospel music but that doesn’t mean that this child wouldn’t like classical songs or hip-pop. Furthermore, it all leads back to our own perspective on the things we come in contact with each day. In addition, I also believe that no one can compel you to like something you dislike or un familiar with because all efforts to adept to change depends on a person’s self of understanding and acceptance of who they truly are.

How does music affect people perspectives? Music and perspective I know goes together because most of the songs we listen to has lyrics written by someone usually based on physical or emotional struggles. And sometimes the lyrics of a song relates to similar issues we may be dealing with in our lives so this creates some kind of connection between the music and our lives in general. Some songs have decent lyrics and this does not automatically make anyone who listens to this kind of music a good person. On the other there are some songs have profane and filthy lyrics. In the same way people who listen to songs with such lyrics are not usually considered to social outcasts because of the kind of songs they listen to. The effect a music or song we listen to has on us is the purpose of which it serves. “The appreciation we have for music is intimately related to our ability to learn the underlying structure of the music we like-the equivalent to grammar in spoken or signed languages-and to be able to make predictions about what will come next” (Levitin p. 111). For instance, I only listen to classical music only if I want to sleep soundly. This is basically because it is sometimes very slow and calming and this truly helps me unwind after a hard days work. On the other hand I have also observed that at most parties start with gospel then it goes to hip-pop and I strongly believe that it’s a good way to start anything in life; that is by calling on the name of the Lord first. And asking him to intercede and to make the gathering or whatever is about to happen a success. Usually at parties we want to have fun so the music played are typically for people to dance to it or sing along. It all depends on the theme of the party and the kinds of songs played at the party.

To conclude, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions and I totally respect that. This mainly because we are all different and the kinds of things you may like I may dislike. It’s the same with music I only listen to one genre not because I don’t like the others is just because gospel music makes me happy and it keeps me going each day. This does not mean that I hate the other genre is just that I haven’t considered listening to anything else apart from gospel and classical. I know that without listening to another genre of music I can’t hate it just for any reason. Classical music and hard rock may differ from each other; however, this does not make classical more pleasing than rock.

Ashley: Whenever I think about musical stereotypes, my mind automatically jumps to locations and correlates places where people grew up to be a big influence on what they prefer listening to, among other things. My family moved around a lot when I was little, but the place that I ended up living at longest and ended up going to high school at was a tiny rural town surrounded by farms. Naturally, a majority of the people at my school enjoyed listening to country very often. They wore the flannel and John Doe t-shirts, and talked about the things they were doing for 4-H projects and how excited they were for the county fair. It was most certainly a case where the stereotype was an exact fit for the image that my peers were displaying. Crystal Chan thinks this is something that happens all the time in her article. “Every musical genre has its own set of conventions beyond the music. Take country, rap or any other label and you automatically connote a certain set of principles, a way of life. Music, perhaps more than any other art form today, is one understood through a system of categorization” (Chan, 2007). It’s true enough, as whenever people walk into a music store, people more often than not get assaulted by the tons of different sections of music that are available for them to peruse. It reminds me strongly of a lyric in Blue October’s Inner Glow: “So here’s a preview shove it under old-new / Or call it rock or pop or Bach or […] / Where did we go wrong? / Now there’s a category for every song” (2003).

While those people my school followed the stereotypes that living in a small rural town seemed to dictate, it was an undeniable truth that they listened to more things than just country. They were actually quite fond of rap and hip hop as well, which normally would be associated with inner city people, if we were to continue following the trends. There were some people, including myself, that just didn’t like country at all. Some of these people fit the standard image of people that listened to a lot of darker sounding metal. They were wearing the chains and studs, and the metal band t-shirts from Hot Topic. One guy had custom ordered vampire fangs that he would wear while he listened to his gothic bands deep in the night. Even at the time, I thought it was incredibly interesting how these seemingly incredibly different sets of people interacted on a day to day basis, and how some of them just continued displaying traits of their music group throughout the rest of their actions and mannerisms.

Then there were the people that just continue to deny any mainstream sort of categorization. I had a close friend who only listened to theatrical movie scores and Frank Sinatra. What sort of category would she be sorted in to? Could she be sorted in to one? I don’t think its very easy to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to that question and provide very good reasoning for the decision.

Lee: Different genres of music can be rather easily associated with certain groups of people. These stereotypes may be baseless in a lot of situations but are true in many others. I believe the environment in which you grow up has a large impact in the genre of music you prefer. Babies are able to recognize, and prefer music they hear while in the womb when tested at the age of 1 (Levitin, 2006, p.217). With this being true, the music I prefer today may be a direct result of my parents’ favorite music when I was in the womb. As we look at music stereotypes, they are often based in socioeconomic status (SES). SES is “the generic idea…that all known complex societies are characterized by one or more forms of institutionalized social inequality” (Duncan, Featherman, & Duncan, (1972)). As I explore the stereotypes associated with each genre we selected I will relate each stereotype to where I think it is based, whether it be a result of parents likings, socioeconomic status, or something else altogether.

Classical: The stereotypical classical music listener is well educated, wealthy and older. I believe this is based on status in society. Once someone has reached a certain level maturity and financial stability they want a more sophisticated genre of music. Rapping about gangsters and rock about hate are no longer enticing. Classical music carries an air of elite around it. To truly appreciate it you must know music and be able to find a message with little or no words.

Blues/Jazz: Blues and Jazz are two very different types of music in their own right. I see blues listeners as middle class citizens sitting at a middle class bar enjoying a live band. I think of white haired Bill Clinton when I think jazz. Jazz strikes me as being played in a slightly more upscale setting than blues. This ties these two stereotypes, in my mind, directly to SES. I believe these are genres you grow into. My parents listened to some blues as I grew up but it was the product of their generation not mine. It did not interest me as it did them, just as the punk rock of my generation interests me but not them.

Country: “There is a common misconception about country music that gives it such a bad reputation: every country song is a sob story about a hillbilly whose girl left him, pickup broke down, dog died, or so the story goes. Another misconception is that if you listen to country music you automatically become a hick” (Lockhart, 2008). This is the age old stereotype I think of when I think country music, and I love country music. I grew up in North Carolina and have been battling these stereotypes my whole life. Country music certainly sings about and appeals to people of a certain SES. From personal experience I can say the common stereotypes ring true in many aspects. However, country in the last 5-10 years has become a very mainstream genre of music. People still love to hate it and call each other hillbillies for listening to it but it has gained traction well outside of Nashville and the Appalachian mountain area.

Rock/Metal: I associate these two types of music with people who want to rebel against society. Rock music has stereotypes that fans of heavy metal focus on traits and behaviors that are self-destructive (Fried, 2003, p. 2). I can see the fans of this genre being born into it or developing the liking later in life as a result of some need to rebel. It always seems to be angry music for angry people. I listen to it when I go to the gym and want to increase my aggression. I think a child in the womb could become used to it, be born into a rock/metal household and have it stick. This begins to address some of the psychological effects music can have on a person.

Rap and R&B: To me, almost all rap music is about growing up in a struggle. For that reason the stereotypical listener seems to be someone going through a similar situation. Like country, it has become a lot more mainstream but the message is often the same: Rap about the tough times and how much money you have now. I tie this stereotype directly to socioeconomic status. I believe you listen to what you can relate to in most cases. It can be motivating that Jay-Z grew up on the same block as you and now drives a Maybach. Most rap artists are aware of their fan base and use their music to send messages. Davis and Palladino define motivation as “physiological and psychological factors that account for the arousal, direction, and persistence of behavior.” Motivating through music brings about a new, interesting question: When socioeconomic status is increased, does preferred genre of music change? That would be an interesting topic for another paper.

Through out our investigations, it became clear that each of us have found similar ideas about the various musical genres that we had been working with. The overlapping opinions back each other up, and it becomes hard to deny the existence of musical stereotypes within our society. They’re there, and they are fairy obvious about themselves. But why do people put things in to categories to begin with? Davis and Palladino say that it’s because “if you put people in to categories, you have fewer items of information to deal with—you can think about a small number of categories rather than a large number of individuals” (p. 647). So it stands that we could be getting judged on our taste in music, no matter the reasons that might go in to us listening to what we do.

Works Cited

Adams, Terri M. and Douglas B. Fuller. The Words Have Changed but the Ideology

Remains the Same: Misogynistic Lyrics in Rap Music. Journal of Black Studies. 2006. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from .

Blue October (2003). Inner Glow.

On History for Sale [CD]. New York: Universal Records.

Chan, Crystal. (2007). Pop Rhetoric: Springtime for musical stereotypes. The McGill

Tribune Online. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from

Crystalinks. Country and Western Music. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from

Davis, S.F. & Palladino, J.J. (2007). Psychology (5th Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Duncan, Featherman, & Duncan, (1972). Socioeconomic Background and Achievement.

New York: Seminar Press.

Fried, Carrie D, Ph.D. (2003). Stereotypes of Music Fans: Are Rap and Heavy Metal

Fans a Danger to Themselves or Others? Journal of Media Psychology, Volume 8, Number 3. Retrieved from

Holden, Constance. (2006). Classical's Class and Rap's Bad Rap. Science AAAS. 2. Science NOW Daily News. Retrieved April 23, 2008 , from

Levitin, D.J. (2006). This is your brain on music: The science of a human obsession. New York, NY: Dutton.

Lockhart, Amelia (2008). Yea, I Like Country. The Cord Weekly.



Trace, Adkins. “Songs About Me.” Lyrics. Songs About Me. Capitol Records Nashville, 2005.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download